Buchanan wages two-front war on drug abuse

U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan is once again planning to file legislation to crack down on prescription drug abuse.

But this year, the Longboat Key Republican has a new strategy for progress.

U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan

Last year his proposal to make it harder to prescribe some highly addictive drugs passed the Senate, but failed to get out of the House.

While Buchanan said he's ready to make another push in Congress, he's also going to push the Food and Drug Administration to make the change without an act from Congress.

Buchanan has sent a letter to the FDA calling for the agency to reclassify medications with the highly addictive hydrocodone, such as Vicodin, as a Schedule II drug. That would make the drug harder to prescribe and would require patients to have the original prescription to get refills.

"Prescription drug abuse is wreaking havoc on countless families and communities across our nation," Buchanan said in a letter to the FDA he co-signed with U.S. Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass. "This epidemic has reached such disastrous proportions that fatal drug overdoses now outnumber the total amount of traffic fatalities in this country."

But Buchanan is not counting on just the FDA. Next week, he and Markey intend to refile the bill that would make the rescheduling of hydrocodone law.

Buchanan, spurred by local drug overdoses by teenagers, has said the nation needs someone from Florida to take a stand against the pill mills because the state has become a hot spot for them and prescription drug abuse.

A personal loan

Buchanan won his fourth term in Congress in November, but it came at a personal cost, newly filed campaign finance records show.

Buchanan wrote a $250,000 personal loan to his campaign in late December, according to the final campaign disclosure reports filed with the Federal Election Commission last week.

It was the second time Buchanan has loaned his campaign money last year. At the beginning of 2012, Buchanan loaned the campaign another $250,000, then repaid it in early November after the election.

The latest loan was made to the campaign on Dec. 27, a day before Buchanan's campaign paid $350,000 in legal fees to Patton Boggs, a Washington, D.C., law firm that has represented Buchanan in three federal inquiries into his campaign fundraising.

Patton Boggs has represented Buchanan in matters before the Justice Department, the FEC and the House Ethics Committee, which have all looked into illegal campaign donations that helped his 2006 and 2008 campaigns.

Buchanan was never faulted in the schemes, though three of his former car dealership businesses were fined by the FEC.

In addition, the Justice Department has charged two Tampa campaign donors with felonies for their roles in organizing illegal donation schemes.

Combined, Buchanan spent about $3.6 million during the 2012 campaign cycle to defeat Sarasota Democrat Keith Fitzgerald, who spent $1.4 million on his campaign, according to the FEC.

Buchanan won the race with 53.6 percent of the vote to Fitzgerald's 46.6 percent.

But Galvano is not ready to commit to boosting education funding by $1.2 billion as the governor requested last week.

"We have to be sure where all of this money is coming from," said Galvano, the chairman of the Senate Education Appropriations Committee.

Galvano said everyone wants to improve education, but the question is whether the state has the revenue to cover the increase. Also, Galvano said he has concerns about the $2,500 across-the-board raise for classroom teachers that Scott proposed.

He said some teachers likely deserve those raises more than others and he worries that other important school personnel would be left out of the raises, when they might be as deserving as direct classroom teachers.

Galvano will look for those answers Tuesday in Tallahassee when his committee meets to begin evaluating Scott's budget plan.

Scott's budget proposal is a recommendation. Nothing in the state constitution requires the Legislature to follow his recommendations in passing a budget.

Area Political Events

Wednesday

• The Sarasota Republican Club holds a discussion on President Barack Obama's foreign policy. The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. at the Sarasota Yacht Club, 1100 John Ringling Blvd., Sarasota. Cost is $30 for members and $35 for guests and non-members. For additional information and reservations, visit www.SarasotaRepublicanClub.com or contact Donna Arenschield at (941) 312-5279.

Thursday

• The six candidates running for two Sarasota City commission seats face off at a forum at Sarasota Tiger Bay. The meeting begins at 11:30 a.m., at Michael's On East, 1212 East Ave., South, Sarasota. Cost is $22 for members and $27 for nonmembers. For reservations call 925-2970.

Friday

• Leslie Lovelace, interim director of the Suncoast Partnership to End Homelessness, speaks to the Sarasota League of Women Voters about homelessness in the region. The event begins at 9 a.m. at the Waterside Estates, 4540 Bee Ridge Road, Sarasota. Cost is $5 for breakfast. For reservations call Kim at 925-2970 or email lwvsc@verizon.net

Saturday

• Rich Roberts, of the International Union of Police Associations, speaks to the Democratic Club of Sarasota about gun control. The meeting starts at 11:30 a.m. at the Laurel Oak Country Club, 2700 Gary Player Blvd., Sarasota. Cost is $24 for members and $26 for non-members.

Jeremy Wallace

Jeremy Wallace has covered politics for more than 15 years.
He can be reached by email or call (941) 361-4966.
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Last modified: February 3, 2013
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